With an Apology, Brian Williams Digs Himself Deeper in Copter Tale
By JONATHAN MAHLER, RAVI SOMAIYA and EMILY STEELFEB. 5, 2015
For years, Brian Williams had been telling a story that wasn’t true. On Wednesday night, he took to his anchor chair on “NBC Nightly News” to apologize for misleading the public.
On Thursday, his real problems started.
A host of military veterans and pundits came forward on television and social media, challenging Mr. Williams’s assertion that he had simply made a mistake when he spoke, on several occasions, about having been in a United States military helicopter forced down by enemy fire in Iraq in 2003. Some went so far as to call for his resignation.
In his apology, Mr. Williams said that he had been on a different helicopter, behind the one that had sustained fire, and that he had inadvertently “conflated” the two. The explanation earned him not only widespread criticism on radio and TV talk shows, but widespread ridicule on Twitter, under the hashtag “#BrianWilliamsMisremembers.”
NBC News anchor Brian Williams’ comments about dead bodies, Hurricane Katrina starting to gain attention, draw scrutiny
https://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/11526453-148/nbc-news-anchor-brian-williams
PJ: Your readers can have three guesses as to the northwest Bergen County municipality organized under the Faulkner Act with which this most recently-exposed liar on a continental scale is forever intimately associated (in this particular case, the national figure in question was born there: for Pete’s sake, what’s in the water?!?!).
Born in Elmira, New York, Williams was reared in a well-to-do Irish Catholic home or is it Ridgewood NJ. I guess where ever he wants to be born.
From:
https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1047419/bio?ref_=m_mn_ov_bio
Brian Williams was born on May 5, 1959 in Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA as Brian Douglas Williams. He is known for his work on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams(1970), NBC News Decision 2010 (2010) and Education Nation: Teacher Town Hall(2010). He has been married to Jane Gillian Stoddard since June 7, 1986. They have two children.
From:
Born: Brian Douglas Williams
May 5, 1959 (age 55)
Elmira, New York, U.S.
From:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Williams
Born: Brian Douglas Williams
May 5, 1959 (age 55)
Elmira, New York, U.S.
There’s a split in the circuits.
We’re gonna need to see the long form birth certificate…
From:
https://gawker.com/5988597/brian-williams-please-tell-us-about-your-grindlingly-middle-class-upbringing-again
Williams is the blow-dried anchor of NBC Nightly News. His salary is $13 million per year. His daughter stars on Girls. But hey, don’t go thinking Brian Williams is fancy—has he told you about his working class roots?
As anyone who has heard Brian Williams talk in any social or public setting can testify, the newsman loves nothing more than to describe his working class roots, back in Jersey, at length. Despite the fact that he is generally well-liked, Brian Williams is determined, in a borderline pathological way, to drive home the point to each and every American: Hey, I am just like you, notwithstanding my great wealth and fame. A single appearance on Alec Baldwin’s WNYC radio show yesterday offered the following examples:
Alec Baldwin: When asked for a report on his own life, he describes his early years as a ‘Grindingly middle class upbringing.’
Brian Williams: I did not know vegetables came fresh. I thought they were frozen bricks in the field. Salad was 1/8 of a head of iceberg lettuce sliced with a steak knife with a spoonful dollop of mayonnaise on the top. My mother’s goulash was one can Spaghettios and ¼ pound ground beef. We had Spam. We had what everybody else had.
Alec Baldwin: You grew up in New Jersey, right? Was it Ridgewood, New Jersey?
Brian Williams: Born in Ridgewood, New Jersey. We moved for the first eight or nine years of my life to Elmira, New York, and then most of my life was spent in Middletown, New Jersey, on the Jersey shore.
Tell us more about these grindingly middle class times in Jersey.
Brian Williams: My dad, former manager of John Wanamaker department store in Philly, he took a job with Corning Glass in Corning, New York. We lived in adjacent Elmira. Got fired with a slew of executives in a purge of Corning, and then really bounced from job to job, had a tough time-heart attack at 50. That sent us back to the Jersey shore where he could at least find work in New York City. But we had some rough financial times after that.
Did you mingle with the common man?
I mean, [I was] a volunteer fireman in Jersey. I can’t sit around with those guys saying, ‘Fellas, here’s what you don’t know about me in the future. Here’s what I intend to do.’ It just wouldn’t have made any sense.
Any friends with Italian names?
Brian Williams: I went to a Catholic high school. I went to the local community college. I was a townie. I had applied for a civil service job as the nighttime Monmouth County Police Fire dispatcher out of Freehold, but my life took a turn. A buddy of mine took me to Washington, D.C.-Tony Laveglia. Everybody has a Tony Laveglia.
How did a grindingly middle class Jersey boy like you make it in Washington, DC?
Brian Williams: Well, fast forward. I’m at Catholic University having transferred my meager credits. Guy named Rocco comes into our dorm, and says, ‘Does anybody want my internship in the White House?’ I raised my hand, because I had a blue blazer from my job at Sears in Middletown, New Jersey.
And after you finally broke into TV reporting in Kansas—you must have been rich?!
Brian Williams: That was the adjoining town where my efficiency apartment was, not to brag. You know, I was a working poor. I’m on television in this market in Kansas, going home and making an art form of slicing, and if you’ve ever done this, you know. You take one can of Spam. If you fry an egg in that pan, you can make a Spam steak in a frying pan, and you can get four or five slices out of one can of Spam. With some toast, it’s a meal at night.
But have you totally forgotten those long-ago hard times?
Brian Williams: To this day, I like Ramen noodles. I do.
Alec Baldwin: [Laughter]
Brian Williams: I like Ramen noodles
Alec Baldwin: There’s too much sodium in those.
Brian Williams: Hebrew National hot dogs and Spaghettios. My big three.
Brian Williams is sorry that it’s been along time since he rapped at ya, but his f***in’ piece of s**t Dodge Dart blew a transmission and he’s been workin’ his ass off.
The unassailable modern authority on such things, Wikipedia, says he was born in Elmira, New York. Williams himself apparently claims to have been born in Ridgewood. More stolen glory?
From:
https://www.biography.com/people/brian-williams-16243253#profile
Brian Williams is a newscaster and the managing editor of NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, a show he has hosted since 2004.
Synopsis
Brian Williams began his broadcasting career in Kansas, eventually getting hired by WCBS-TV in New York City, where he won his first Emmy Award for his report on the stock market collapse. Soon after, Williams earned a spot at NBC News, where he climbed the ranks to his current post as anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, the network’s flagship evening news program.
Profile
Television news anchor. Born May 5, 1959, in Elmira, New York. Raised in Middletown, New Jersey, Williams attended George Washington University and Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., though he didn’t graduate. He began is broadcasting career in Pittsburg, Kansas, eventually getting hired by WCBS-TV in New York City, where he won his first Emmy Award for his report on the stock market collapse.
From:
https://www.nndb.com/people/065/000052906/
This is a beta version of NNDBSearch: for
Brian Williams
Born: 5-May-1959
Birthplace: Elmira, NY
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Journalist
Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Tom Brokaw’s successor at NBC News
Brian Williams replaced Tom Brokaw as host of NBC Nightly News in 2004. GQ inexplicably called him “the most interesting man in television today”.
Appears frequently on Don Imus in the Morning.
“Let them bury the poor woman. They’re making Trigger jokes out here.” (Brian Williams accidently caught on a microphone he thought was dead, referring to the recent death of Dale Evans).
Wife: Jane Stoddard Williams (one son, one daughter)
Son: Douglas
Daughter: Allison
University: George Washington University
University: Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
White House Staff (late 1970s)
Committee to Protect Journalists Advisory Board
Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation Board of Directors
Council on Foreign Relations
Robin Hood Foundation Board of Directors
Emmy (three times)
Funeral: Tim Russert (2008)
TELEVISION
NBC Nightly News Anchor (2004-)
NBC Chief White House Correspondent (1994-96)
NBC Reporter (1993-)
MSNBC
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
The Revisionaries
From:
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Brian_Williams
Brian Williams
Display his horoscope with biography and chart
Born:May 5, 1959, 12:00 PM (unknown)
In: Ridgewood (NJ) (United States)
Sun:14°25′ Taurus
Moon:20°47′ Aries
Dominants: Aries, Taurus, Scorpio
Saturn, Neptune, Mars
Fire, Earth / Cardinal
Chinese Astrology:Earth Pig
Numerology: Birthpath 7
Height: Brian Williams is 6′ (1m83) tall
Popularity:4,477 clicks, 10,167th man, 16,135th celebrity
Great article about him and his fondness for New Jersey at:
https://njmonthly.com/articles/lifestyle/people/his-heart-belongs-to-jersey.html
Makes you almost want to forgive him for being a bloody liar.
Was Brian Williams told by a consultant that Elmira, New York is not fashionable place to say you were born in?
FROM:
https://www.bluestoneexec.com/blog/2014/3/3/we-begin-tonight-with-whats-boring
“We Begin Tonight with What’s Boring.”
September 08, 2014
NEWSCASTERS LIKE NBC’S BRIAN WILLIAMS KNOW BETTER THAN TO START THE SHOW BY TALKING ABOUT THEMSELVES.
Imagine Brian Williams starting the NBC Nightly News with “We begin tonight by telling you about me. I was born in Elmira, New York…”
Once the shock of his unbridled narcissism wore off, we’d hear “click,” “click,” “click” across the country, as viewers registered disapproval with their remote controls.
TV newsrooms have spent decades and billions of dollars researching how to deliver important information in a format that is concise and compelling. They know it’s NOT by starting with what’s boring or by talking first about themselves.
For the business presenter, the evening news offers some great lessons on how to verbally communicate information, make key details stick, and keep audiences engaged from start to finish.
1) Forget chronology and lead with what’s new. In other words, don’t begin with deep background about yourself, your company or your industry—or a chronological tale of how the problem came to be. Get to the good stuff. If major news breaks at 4:30, that’s usually the lead on the 5:00 news. The important Senate hearing that started at 9:00 will still run, just toward the middle of the newscast. In business presentations, decide what’s new and most interesting and make that your “lead.”
2) Respect the medium. A broadcaster covering the same story as a print reporter will get about 1/20th the words to do her job. She can’t possibly communicate the same volume of information. But rather than bemoaning the limitations of the medium, good TV reporters embrace its advantages, using visuals, sounds, vocal tones, even timing to convey a few key points with lasting effect. (Think of how the nation recalls the first man on the moon, the tumbling of the Berlin Wall or even 9-11.) In business, understand that a live presentation is different than a written report and find ways to exploit those differences to your advantage.
3) Don’t forget sports, weather and the lotto.No matter how big the news day, there always will be some viewers who still want the day’s high temp or the baseball scores. In business, no matter how creative or compelling your presentation, someone in the audience may still want to see an industry standard chart or graph. So go ahead and include that. But keep in mind sports and weather usually get just a few minutes toward the middle or end of the newscast—and lotto numbers run during a break. Concede, if you must, some airtime to what people EXPECT to see. But if you want to engage your audience and make your presentation memorable, do what newscasters do: Focus on what’s UNEXPECTED, what’s most interesting and what’s new.
Give it a try and let us know how it works or what else might work better. For more great ideas and tips for rock solid communication, check out our blog “Let’s Be Clear,” visit us atbluestoneexec.com, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @bluestoneexec.
But see:
https://www.stargazette.com/story/news/local/twin-tiers-roots/2014/10/17/famous-folks-elmira-connections/17441653/
NBC news anchor Brian Williams was not born in Elmira, as a number of sources indicate, but he did live in Elmira as a boy before his family moved to New Jersey. He lived on West Church Street and attended Hendy Avenue Elementary School.
NBC’s Brian Williams says he is stepping down from broadcast for ‘several days’
https://www.foxnews.com/…/nbc-brian-williams-says-will-step…/
FWIW, I found a 2009 reference to Brian Williams having been born in Ridgewood. So if it’s a lie he’s been lying for nearly six years at least.
From:
https://www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detroit/October-2009/Good-News-for-Detroit/
Good News for Detroit
NBC anchor Brian Williams has ties to the area, and he’s not shy about giving it a boost
BY JIM MCFARLIN
Published: September 25, 2009
Brian Williams — yes, that Brian Williams, the anchor of success and solemnity for NBC News — tells a great Detroit story. This is one of his favorites:
“Donna [the wife of his bosom pal of 30 years, longtime Channel 4 (WDIV) sports anchor Bernie Smilovitz] was celebrating, shall we say, a ‘round-number’ birthday,” Williams says by phone from an office on the third floor of New York’s fabled 30 Rock. “Bernie arranged a surprise dinner at the Capital Grille at Somerset. So my wife, Jane, and I arrive, and Bernie has reserved a private room, probably a dozen guests.
“But among the guests were two of the three network evening-news anchors, because Donna used to work with Katie [Couric of CBS] in the old days at CNN. So you see these holiday shoppers who decided to get a little nip at the Capital Grille bar, they watch me come in and they’re saying, ‘Well, isn’t that weird? Did you see who’s here?’ But then Katie walks in, and they really start pounding back their holiday toddies! It was really funny. If we’d had Charlie Gibson, it would have been a total hat trick.”
In these dismal times, when any Detroiter would be justified in believing the national media uses our city as its personal piñata, let us take heart in knowing at least one network news nabob appears to have the Motor City’s collective back. “When I talked to my friend Bernie, he asked the natural question: ‘What the hell do they want to talk to you about?’ ” says Williams, his natural sense of humor cleverly masked by the familiar, authoritative tenor TV viewers have come to trust since 2004 as anchor and managing editor of the NBC Nightly News (6:30 p.m. weeknights, Channel 4 in Detroit).
“I said, ‘I think they have approached me as a friend of Detroit,’ and I am. I consider myself one. I cheer on a constant basis for all of Detroit. I never miss an opportunity to mention Detroit on Nightly News, hopefully more positive than negative.”
Smilovitz, turning serious for a moment from his customary role as resident court jester on Local 4 News, concurs. “The one thing that’s unbelievable to me, at least for us here in Detroit, is that if we have something that’s pressing or telling or needs to be addressed, we let Brian know these things are happening or we need help,” Smilovitz says. “He’s a friend of Detroit from the word go, and I think he always will be.”
Part of Williams’ attachment to our town is rooted in his close relationship with Smilovitz, who met Williams while the two worked together at WTTG-TV, now the Fox affiliate in Washington, D.C., in the 1970s — Smilovitz as the station’s sportscaster, Williams as a street reporter. “There were many, many instances through the years when Brian was just a reporter on the street, that we knew he was going to be the anchorman of the nation,” Smilovitz says. “We just knew it being around
The ties that bind Williams to Detroit run deeper, however. His mother-in-law, Patricia Lovejoy Stoddard, grew up on the 1700 block of Iroquois in Indian Village. “Like everyone else, her father was involved in the auto industry,” Williams says. “I don’t know in what capacity. He was a tinkerer. I’ve heard stories about all the different things he customized in the Indian Village house. I have actually given the address to [WDIV anchor] Carmen Harlan, who is kind of an amateur curator of homes and lives very close to where my mother-in-law grew up.” Further, his brother, Richard Williams, lived and worked in Troy for many years as a construction executive at Kmart corporate headquarters before relocating to El Paso, Texas.
Though he has heartland connections, Williams, 50, is a son of the East Coast. He was born in Ridgewood, N.J., and moved with his family to Elmira, N.Y., and Middletown, N.J. (He spent several years as a volunteer firefighter in New Jersey, an accomplishment of which he’s particularly proud.)